Carton with separate interior pocket

ABSTRACT

A carton structure formed from a single blank of paperboard and including a film element adhered to the inside surfaces of one or more panels of said carton to form an interiorly positioned pocket between the film element and the carton panel for retaining a secondary item or the like isolated from the primary product in said carton but which is accessible through an access panel formed in one of the panels of said carton without disturbing the primary contents of the carton.

I United States Patent 1151 3,640,447

Forbes, Jr. et al. Feb. 8, 1972 [54] CARTON WITH SEPARATE INTERIOR 3,182,890 11/1965 Elam ..229/l5 X POCKET 3,147,856 9/1964 Lightner et a]. 206/47 R 2,717,731 9/1955 Nerenberg ..229/14 BA 1721 lnvemom munPM! Fflrbqs, wllmmgmn; 2,172,864 9/1939 Calva et 61;. 206/4531 Lawrence L8 Fremere Newark, both of 1,752,504 4/1930 Penrose ..206/45.31 2,041,170 5/1936 Dorsey 206/D1G 22 [73 Assigneez w w Corporation, New York, N Y 3,389,850 6/1968 ROCkCfBllBl' "206/DlG. 22

[22] Filed: Oct. 3, 1969 Primary Examiner-Leonard Summer [21 1 Appl No 863 593 Attorney-Larry C. Hall and Robert S. Grimshaw [57] ABSTRACT [52] us g7 A carton structure formed from a single blank of paperboard [51] Int Cl 365d 5/56' B65d 5/72 B65d 77/28 and including a film element adhered to the inside surfaces of [58] Fieid 259/17 15 BL 14 one or more panels of said carton to form an interiorly posi- 206/DIG i 47 a 45 tioned pocket between the film element and the carton panel for retaining a secondary item or the like isolated from the primary product in said carton but which is accessible through an [56] References cued access panel formed in one of the panels of said carton UNITED STATES PATENTS without disturbing the primary contents of the carton.

Bianchi ..206/45 .31

2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 81912 3,640,447

SHEEF 1 0F 2 i l l l l I l I R IJFI I MN mm *m km INVENTORS= Hampton E. Forbes,Jr. BY Lawrence J. Lu Freniere A RNEY PM'ENTEUFEB e 1972 3 t 640 4 saw 2 OF 2 INVENTORS: Hampton E. Forbes,ur. BY Lawrence J. Lo Freniere CARTON WITH SEPARATE INTERIOR POCKET SUMMARY OF INVENTION i This invention relates generally to a carton structure which includes among its many features, construction from a single blank of paperboard; an interiorly placed pocket member for housing separately from the primary contents of the carton a secondary item; and, means adjacent the interiorly placed pocket in the wall of the carton for gaining access to the pocket and the secondary item without disturbing the primary contents of the carton. More particularly, the invention relates to a carton structure which could take any desired shape and which has secured to an inside wall thereof a pocket forming member for receiving and holding an'item separate from the primary contents of the carton. The invention also contemplates providing an opening means wherein a single-opening panel would provide independent access to both the interior pocket and the primary contents of the container, or simply a single-opening panel for gaining access to the interior pocket without disturbing the primary contents of the carton.

The inclusion of sheets of printed material or prizes of one sort or another with packaged products has'been practiced for some time. When printed material is included, it frequently carries detailed instructions for the use of the product contained within the package. Sometimes it provides a vehicle for advertising directed to related or other products marketed by the same manufacturer, or it comprises a redeemable coupon by which subsequent purchases of that product, or others marketed by the same manufacturer, can be purchased at reduced prices.

Oftentimes the printed material is included in the package in folded-up form, or is loosely inserted within the package between the article and an interior wall of the package, provided the package is large enough and the printed material small enough. Where the printed material is of such size that it cannot be inserted within the package without folding it, certain problems arise, particularly when the printed material, such as, forexample, a redeemable coupon, is to be returned and subsequently processed on high-speed sorting and tabulating equipment. In that case, it is highly desirable that the returned printed matter not be folded or severely creased because the sorting and tabulating equipment may not be capable of efi'iciently handling such folded or creased materials.

When prizes or other more bulky items are to be included in the package, other problems arise. Sometimes the prize or other item must be isolated from the product in the package to prevent contamination. In the past, this requirement has been handled by constructing a separate and distinct compartment in the package itself formed with one wall of the package as a partition element. Obviously such packages are expensive to manufacture and setup. In other cases, the prize or other item has been packaged in a separate carton and then adhesively secured to the main carton.

The present invention overcomes these deficiencies by providing a carton with an interiorly positioned pocket for receiving and holding a secondary item. The carton thus requires a minimum amount of material in its formation and is simple to fabricate thus making it less expensive than prior art cartons. Moreover, the carton does not incorporate projecting portions or multiple panel constructions that would make it difficult to pack for shipment or stack for merchandising.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a carton construction is provided having opposed front and back panels, opposed side panels and end closure means. The front and back panels are connected alternately with the side panels along their respective longer marginal edges. An interiorly positioned secondary item containing pocket is included adjacent one of the side panels and attached to both the front and back panels. The pocket is formed in the preferred embodiment by adhering a sheet of flexible material to portions of the inner surface of the panels.

therebetween by adhering at least three marginal edges of the material tothe inner surface of the panels. The pocket thus formed receives and holds the secondary item in position for removal either separately or at the same time that the primary product is removed. The arrangement of the pocket and an access panel on the carton sidewall permits removal of the secondary item without disturbing the contents.

It should be understood at the outset however, that the inventive concept herein claimed and described is capable of assuming other and different configurations. For instance, the drawing has illustrated the carton as being preferably rectangular in shape but it could be made round, polygonal or triangular in shape if desired. Further, the secondary item has been illustrated as being a coupon, however a prize or a utensil or any other object could be included in the interior pocket without exceeding the limits of the invention. In addition, the interior pocket has been shown located on a sidewall panel but it would be within the contemplation of the invention to put the interior pocket adjacent either the front or back panels or the top panel.

Finally, the drawing illustrates two different means for providing access to the interior pocket including a panel which opens only into the interior pocket and a panel opening both the interior pocket and the primary carton. Of course other different forms of access to the interior compartment could be employed including an access in the form of a display-type panel. In this latter concept the secondary item would be partially exposed on the exterior of the carton whereby a viewer could observe both the carton and a portion of the secondary item at the same time. The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture which possesses a combination of features, properties and a relation of elements which is not to be confined by the detailed description and drawing which hereinafter appear.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a typical blank of paperboard from which the carton of this invention could be constructed;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a paperboard blank fonning a second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of a paperboard blank forming a third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view partially broken away of the carton constructed from either the blank of FIG. 1 or FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view partially broken away of the carton constructed from the blank of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of a paperboard blank forming a fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7 shows a plan view of a paperboard blank forming a fifth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8 shows a plan view of a typical end closure for the FIG. 7 carton; and,

FIG. 9 shows a side view of the end closure of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIGS. 1-3 show in full lines a typical blank from which the carton of the present invention could be formed. The dot-dash lines of these figures show the liner means as employed to form the interior pocket for each carton. The blank in each figure referred to generally by the reference numeral 10, is preferably paperboard material, coated on one or both sides, or may comprise any other suitable material well known to the carton making industry. Each blank is shown as viewed from the inside with the outside printed portion of the carton blank underneath and hidden.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, the blank 10 is shown as comprising a sidewall panel 14, a front or backwall panel 16, a second sidewall panel 18, a second front or backwall panel 20 and a connecting flap 22 for securing the carton together by adhesively bonding it to the sidewall panel 14 at The flexible material is attached to the panels to formapocket the opposite side of the blank 10. Each of the wall forming panels are connected to one another along fold lines 15, 17 and 19 with the connecting flap 22 being attached to the wall along fold line 21. The panels described and illustrated when connected together are prescribed form the typical rectangular-shaped carton represented by reference numeral 12 in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Hingedly attached to the upper end of the carton walls 14, 16, 18 and 20 are the top closure flaps 25, 27, 29 and 31. A continuous fold line 33 denotes this attachment. Similarly, the bottom closure flaps 24, 26, 28 and 30 are attached along fold line 23 to the bottom of the carton walls 14, 16, 18 and 20. Additional flaps 38 and 32 are attached along the same fold lines 33 and 23 to the respective ends of closure flap 22. Top flap 29 includes a cutout 36 adjacent the perforated line 37 in sidewall 18 which cooperates with the overlapping panels 39 formed in top flaps 27 and 31 to form the carton opening means. The top flaps 27 and 31 include fold lines 34 and for delineating the two overlapping panels 39.

In this particular embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 1, the interior pocket is formed by the application of a continuous film strip 40 over each of the carton walls to achieve a carton which has a sift proof characteristic in addition to the novel interior pocket feature. Note that the film 40 is secured to the interior of each carton wall in a prescribed pattern to achieve the desired result. By projecting the liner over each of the peripheral carton fold lines 15, 23, 33 and 21, when the carton is formed, the total inner surface area exposed to the primary product is protected by the liner. The liner 40 is secured to the carton walls 14 and 22 by singular lines of adhesive at 42 and 44 while being secured to carton walls 16 and 20 in a shallow V-shaped pattern defined by the lines of adhesive 45, 47 and 46, 48. Finally, the interior pocket 49 is defined by the lines of adhesive at 41. These adhesive lines taken together form a three sided compartment for housing the secondary item 50 which is illustrated as a coupon or the like.

The carton opening means utilized on the embodiment of FIG. 1 requires that the two overlapping panels 39 be secured to one another and then secured to the intermediate panel 29. Access to the carton is obtained by punching out the small tab formed by a perforated line at 37 and then ripping the carton open along perforated lines in the region of panels 39 and coincident with the fold line 33. This operation initially exposes the pocket area between the liner 40 and the carton wall 18 and also tears the liner to provide an opening in the top of the carton for dispensing the primary product. FIG. 4 of the drawing clearly illustrates this opening procedure showing the carton completely open. Thus a tamper proof carton is obtained which features a completely isolated interior pocket 49 wherein a coupon or the like can be stored separately from the primary product in the carton itself. When desired, the coupon or the like can be initially attached to the carton inner wall as by spot gluing to prevent any shifting of the coupon during manufacture of the carton.

As a practical matter, the carton blank would be initially cut and scored prior to assembly. Subsequently after printing the outside walls of the carton, the blank would be arranged with the inner surface uppermost for application of the coupon. Next, the blank would be applied with adhesive in-the appropriate areas for attachment of the liner material. Finally the carton blank would be flipped over for application of adhesive material to the closure flap and subsequent erection of the carton. This last step would comprise adhesively bonding the closure flap to the inside wall of the carton blank at its extreme oppositcside. The blank thus constructed as a carton would then be shipped to the customer for filling and sealing with the primary product of the carton.

Of course if desired, and where it was necessary because of the type of secondary item being packaged, it would be possible to leave the coupon or other item out during the manufacture of the carton for later insertion by the packager. The flex ible material for use in making the liner could be plastic film such as, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, or polyester. Also paper, cellophane or the like could be used. A film having some elastic properties would be especially useful when an odd shaped secondary item was to be packaged. For such an item, the film would tend to hold the item in position in its pocket.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention wherein the carton blank 10 takes the same form as the blank 10 of FIG. 1, however the film-forming pocket material 40 is substantially smaller. Similar reference characters are used to indicate similar parts in FIGS. 1 and 2. Also, the carton opening means of FIG. 2 is the same as that employed in the FIG. 1 embodiment, and, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The smaller liner member 40 of FIG. 2 is shown as extending over one sidewall 18 and as being secured to the two adjacent walls 16 and 20 along the adhesive lines 41. An additional line of adhesive at 51 is applied over end flaps 26, 28 and 30 to form the lower end of the interior pocket 49. The coupon or other secondary item 50 is then inserted in the pocket in the same manner employed for the FIG. 1 embodiment.

The smaller liner element 40 of the FIG. 2 embodiment is used in those cartons which are not required to be completely sift proof. Each of the other features of the FIG. 1 embodiment are still included in FIG. 2 except for the complete liner. The pilferproof coupon pocket 49 and the convenient openings means at 37 is included wherein access to both the pocket 49 and the primary carton may be accomplished at the same time. Of course, the coupon 50 or other prize can still be removed without disturbing the primary product.

In FIGS. 3 and 5 a similar carton blank is employed, but a different opening means and pocket compartment is achieved. For this embodiment, the same reference characters have been used to denote similar elements of the carton illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The interior pocket film element 60 is shown as extending over the sidewall 18 while being adhesively attached to the wall panels 16 and 20 along lines 61, 61. These adhesive lines determine the width of the interior compartment while adhesive lines 62, 62 in the wall panels 16, 18, 20 and closure flaps 27, 29, 31 define the vertical dimensions of the compartment 59. It will thus be seen that the liner 60 is completely sealed around its peripheral edges to form an enclosed interior compartment totally isolated from the primary product in the carton. Therefore, to provide access to the compartment 59, a tab element 63 is shown located in the sidewall panel 18. The tab member 63 is formed on its two sides by perforated lines 64, 65 suitably shaped to provide a lifting element, and a fold line 66 about which the tab element 63 is folded.

For this embodiment of the invention, the secondary item must be installed prior to erecting the carton since the pocket 59 is completely closed around each of its four sides. Generally, in the situations wherein this embodiment is deemed suitable for use, the secondary item is attached more or less pennanently to the carton inner wall prior to adding the film material 60. FIG. 5 shows how the secondary item would be exposed by manipulating the opening 63. For this case a different opening means would be required for obtaining access to the primary product in the carton. Of course, it should be kept in mind that although the inner pocket 59 has been illustratively disclosed as lying along the sidewall 18, it could just as well be located adjacent one of the other sidewalls 14, 16 or 20 by simply reorienting the opening means 63, 64, 65.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 6 includes a carton blank substantially as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 except for the placement of the film-forming inner pocket 69. For this embodiment, similar reference characters have been used to denote similar elements of the blank structure. The interior pocket film element 71 is shown as being secured to one of the front or backwalls 20 of the carton. The film 71 is secured to the interior carton wall along each of its four sides 72, 73 as indicated by the adhesive lines to isolate the secondary item 70 from the primary product in the carton.

Opposite the film element 71 and formed in the wall 20 of the carton there is located the access panel to the interior pocket formed by the perforated line 75 and the fold line 74.

Access is provided by tearing the panel back along the fold lines 74 in a manner substantially as provided in the FIG. 3 embodiment.

A final embodiment of the invention is shown in blank form in FIG. 7. For this embodiment, the carton is prepared from a single blank of paperboard or the like which would form a circular or round carton in its erected condition. The single panel of the blank includes a connecting panel 88 attached to the blank along a fold line 89. The connecting panel 88 is secured to the opposite side of the blank to form the circular carton. The interior pocket 79 of this embodiment can be placed in any suitable location and preferably includes a film element 81 secured to the interior wall around'each of its four sides by lines of adhesive 82, 83, 84. An interior pocket accew panel is formed in the wall of the carton opposite the film element 81 by the perforated line 86 and the fold line 85. Access is permitted to the secondary item 80 by tearing away the panel along the perforated line 86 and bending it back along the fold line 85. This is substantially the same type of access panel that is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show two different views of a typical end closure means 90 that could be used for the round carton fonned from the blank of FIG. 7.

Thus what is herein described and desired to be protected by letters patent is a novel carton which has an inner pocket formed therein by a liner member secured to the inside walls of said carton, and which includes an access panel opposite said inner pocket in said carton wall whereby the secondary product packaged in the pocket member can be removed without disturbing the primary product in the carton.

We claim:

1. A carton formed from a single blank of paperboard or the like and having an interiorly positioned pocket comprising:

a. a tubular-shaped body element formed from a blank including a plurality of discreet sidewall panels connected together along parallel fold lines and having a connecting flap at one edge thereof that is secured to a sidewall panel at the opposite edge thereof to form the exterior carton structure, with end closure panels hingedly attached to each end of the sidewall panels;

. a film element adhered to the inside surface of said carton body element and overlapping at least three of the sidewall panels and the adjacent end closure panels of said carton body element;

0. an interior pocket between the film element and the inside surface of one of said sidewall panels formed by selectively adhering the pocket forming film element to said sidewall panels around at least three sides of said pocket for housing a secondary item separately from the primary contents of the carton that is isolated from the primary product packaged in said carton; and

. an access panel formed in the upper portion of said one of said sidewall panels and located opposite the interior pocketthereof formed by said film element and said one sidewall panel to permit entry into said interior pocket, with further means formed by said access panel and reclosable portions of the end closure panels attached to said sidewall panels to permit simultaneous access to the primary product packaged in said carton.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein the film element adhered to the inside surface of said carton body element overlaps each of the sidewall panels and end closure panels to thereby form a completely sift proof carton. 

1. A carton formed from a single blank of paperboard or the like and having an interiorly positioned pocket comprising: a. a tubular-shaped body element formed from a blank including a plurality of discReet sidewall panels connected together along parallel fold lines and having a connecting flap at one edge thereof that is secured to a sidewall panel at the opposite edge thereof to form the exterior carton structure, with end closure panels hingedly attached to each end of the sidewall panels; b. a film element adhered to the inside surface of said carton body element and overlapping at least three of the sidewall panels and the adjacent end closure panels of said carton body element; c. an interior pocket between the film element and the inside surface of one of said sidewall panels formed by selectively adhering the pocket forming film element to said sidewall panels around at least three sides of said pocket for housing a secondary item separately from the primary contents of the carton that is isolated from the primary product packaged in said carton; and d. an access panel formed in the upper portion of said one of said sidewall panels and located opposite the interior pocket thereof formed by said film element and said one sidewall panel to permit entry into said interior pocket, with further means formed by said access panel and reclosable portions of the end closure panels attached to said sidewall panels to permit simultaneous access to the primary product packaged in said carton.
 2. The carton of claim 1 wherein the film element adhered to the inside surface of said carton body element overlaps each of the sidewall panels and end closure panels to thereby form a completely sift proof carton. 